Thursday, November 22, 2012

SOME THINGS FINISHED

First, sorry for those who wanted me to continue with the landscape a la Christopher Leeper. I washed it down and tried again but it just wasn't making me happy - um, guess that means I wasn't making me happy? ha ha Anyway, not working. So I will start over with a fresh piece of 300# Arches rough and see what happens :)

In Tuesday's class we finished up our acrylic ink paintings. Before they arrived just before 10 am, I had painted in the berries and gave them some highlights. The only other thing I did to this was take some darkened red and trace over some of the "vine" areas. And done! A quick and easy way to have a painting on the wall in no time. It's not my favorite painting of all time but it was fun. Nancy removed most of the leaves and cobwebbing and then lightened some areas in her painting while Linda removed most of the cobwebbing (deciding to leave some and spray seal it) and then left her as it was. I can see it hanging on her wall just as it is (after she gives it a couple of coats of spray sealant).

After they spent about 1/2 hour on finishing up the acrylic ink painting on canvas, we returned to our peppers and Joy returned to her pears (she didn't want to do peppers like the rest of us).

Basically, I was trying to show them how to put in a nice shadow shape and telling them that shadows should have as much color as your subjects and be thought of us just another element/shape in the painting. They still are working on their wet-in-wet version and their glazed version of the same painting and seeing how the glazing version takes patience and lots of time to dry. I will go ahead and finish up the paintings I have of the peppers and we will work on them more next Tuesday. Back to just watercolor for a while!

For all those Americans viewing, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. Be safe, whether you are staying home or traveling over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house!

I began my journey with watercolor painting in April 2003, taking weekly lessons for six years before I realized I needed to move on to explore on my own.

I admire the work of so many artists; my sidebar is full of artists who inspire me every day. I also love the freedom of Shirley Trevena, the delicate touch of Ted Nuttall and Hazel Soan, and the power of Mary Whyte. I enjoy visiting art blogs, reading art magazines and watching art DVDs to further my art education and to simply enjoy the beauty that is being created around the world in watermedia these days.

"If you have a burning desire to create art, you will lean into the flame of that desire, rather than shy away from it. You may get burned, or you may enjoy the glowing warmth of success. Whatever the outcome, you will not be able to withstand the pull to create something meaningful, beautiful, and lasting."